LPope Francis received, on January 25, a delegation from the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, designated by its English acronym UCCRO. The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Major Archbishop of the Greek-Catholic Church rubbed shoulders with the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine and the Grand Mufti. The sovereign pontiff has “thanked” its visitors for their ” unit “ worthy of “members of the same family”adding: “It’s not about a Jewish Ukraine, a Christian Ukraine, an Orthodox Ukraine, a Catholic Ukraine, an Islamic Ukraine… no, the important thing is Ukraine, the “mother” Ukraine for whom everyone gathers. »
The Pope, very committed both to ecumenical dialogue with the Orthodox Church and to interreligious dialogue, assured that he would continue his prayers for Ukraine. The delegation gave him on this occasion a list of doctors imprisoned by Russia. It was the first visit to the Vatican by UCCRO, which has already been mobilized for several years to defend the cause of Ukraine abroad.
From Euromaidan to the Russian invasion
This inter-religious body really emerged thanks to the “revolution of Dignity”, as the Ukrainians call the popular uprising which, from November 2013 to February 2014, forced President Yanukovych to resign. The Head of State had indeed refused to sign the association agreement with the European Union, obviously under pressure from the Kremlin, provoking a virulent protest in the square (“maidan”) of Independence, renamed “Euromaidan”. The monastery of Saint-Michel-au-Dôme-d’Or, beating heart of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, then served as a refuge and rear base for the demonstrators. The sanctuary had sounded the tocsin for the first time since the Mongol invasions of the 13the century, while the Grand Mufti, himself a native of Donbass, joined the movement.
The success of the Euromaidan uprising led to Russia launching a “undeclared war”, first with the occupation and annexation of Crimea, then the destabilization of Donbass. The UCCRO, hitherto concentrated on interreligious dialogue within Ukraine, then became an instrument for promoting kyiv’s theses internationally. Beyond the meetings with the diplomats stationed in the Ukrainian capital, the UCCRO chained the visits to Berlin in 2015, to The Hague in 2016, or to Strasbourg in 2017.
His delegation to Israel was able, in 2019, to be received by the President of the State and that of the Knesset, but Prime Minister Netanyahu, invited shortly after by Vladimir Putin to the military “victory” parade in Red Square in Moscow, did not wish to meet her. On the very day of the Russian invasion, on February 24, 2022, UCCRO declares : “We support the Armed Forces of Ukraine and all of our defenders, we bless them in their defense of Ukraine against the aggressor and we offer our prayers for them. »
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